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The New Zealand government has announced its intention to reform consumer credit law by introducing a new Consumer Credit Bill. The Bill will replace both the Credit Contracts Act 1981 and the Hire Purchase Act 1971. It aims to reduce the imbalance between lenders and consumers by implementing a stricter disclosure regime, increasing penalties and giving the Commerce Commission the power enforce the law and obtain redress on behalf of consumers. It is hoped that these measures will protect consumers and enable them to make more informed credit decisions.

On December 19 2001 the Finnish Association of Securities Dealers, the Finnish Association of Mutual Funds, the Financial Supervision Authority, the Finnish Shareholders' Association and the Finnish Bankers' Association agreed to set up a Securities Committee to settle disputes, issue recommendations and handle other issues concerning securities trading.

In May 2001, the government of India allowed 100% Indian private sector participation and 26% foreign direct investment (FDI) (including investment by non-resident Indians (NRIs) and overseas corporate bodies (OCBs)) in the defence industry, subject to licensing. On January 4 2002, the government announced guidelines for the granting of licences for production of arms and ammunitions. Under the guidelines, licences for the production of arms and ammunitions to an Indian company or partnership firm will be granted by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in consultation with the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The guidelines require the management of the applicant company to be in Indian hands together with majority representation on the board. The chief executive of the company must also be an Indian resident. A three-year lock-in period is imposed for transfer of equity from one foreign investor to another foreign investor (including NRIs and OCBs with 60% or more NRI shareholding) and such transfer would be subject to prior approval of the government and the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.

The trend to mould the Commercial Code of Japan to business needs continues. From April 1 2002, amendments to the Commercial Code will dramatically relax the restrictions on voting rights of shareholders of Japanese joint-stock companies (kabushiki kaisha).

While the EU prevaricates about key areas of corporate and capital markets legislation, France has been pushing to reform its domestic rules to free itself of old fashioned restrictions. Thomas Williams reports on the progress made, that still to come and how lawyers are making the most of the new rules

European capital markets team of the year: Linklaters & Alliance Project finance team of the year: Allen & Overy Cross-border M&A team of the year: Shearman & Sterling Structured finance team of the year: Clifford Chance Capital markets team of the year - France: Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton Capital markets team of the year - Italy: Grimaldi Clifford Chance Capital markets team of the year - Germany: Hengeler Mueller Capital markets team of the year - Spain: Uría & Menéndez Capital markets team of the year - UK: Allen & Overy Central and eastern European team of the year: Linklaters & Alliance Equity deal of the year: Orange

In the wake of the Enron collapse, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been quick to put forward proposals to improve accounting and financial disclosure, in the hope of preventing any future disasters. Leslie Silverman and Mark Adams of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, New York, and Sebastian Sperber and Robert Williams in Hong Kong review the SEC’s statements and explain how companies should react when preparing financial disclosure press releases and reports filed with the Commission

"If you don't maximize due diligence regardless of what is going on in the market, you haven't been doing your job properly"

Shearman and Freshfields team up for $505 million private equity deal

Allen & Overy and Linklaters have teamed up with two Finnish law firms to work on a €1billion ($1.75 billion) cross-border brewery merger. Partner Matthew Middleditch is leading a Linklaters team working with local counsel Dittmar & Indrenius to advise Scottish & Newcastle on its conditional takeover offer for Hartwall, Finland's leading beer and soft drinks company. The Scottish & Newcastle brewing group includes the UK's Scottish Courage, France's Brasseries Kronenbourg and Belgium's Alken Maes. Hartwall's portfolio includes Finland's most popular lager, Lapin Kulta.